Faith Matters - Current Posts

Friday, June 5, 2009

I’ve never liked the word “religious.” To me, “religion” smacks of organizations, institutions, rules and loads of self-righteousness. So I don’t want to be “religious.” I just want to be Christian. But there is a sense in which “religious” is a good word. It refers to the practical living out of faith. It means living with a constant awareness of God. Living “religiously” is the opposite of living “secularly.” Living “secularly” doesn’t mean denying God, it indicates a lack of awareness of God. It means not thinking about God at all.Let me put it this way: Imagine a person coming up to you and bluntly asking, “What do you think of me?” And you say, “I don’t.” I mean, how could you be more offensive to someone? You’re saying, in effect, “I don’t think ill of you, I don’t think good of you. I just don’t think about you at all. You’re not part of my life.” That’s what a secular person thinks of God ? not at all. A secular person is not anti-God. God just isn’t part of his or her thinking. But the opposite is true of the godly person. The person who lives religiously thinks about God almost all the time. God is important whether you are waking up or going to sleep, working or playing, worshiping or praying. For the godly, religious Christian, God is woven into the very fabric of every part of life.